Combustive Complications
He'd allowed them to take so much. Much more than she'd expected. He didn't stop her when he noticed she was condenincing medicines to fit more in the crate.
She'd expected a rebuke when she'd scooped the stones she'd collected for Yensid's staff into a velvet pouch she'd found next to it.
Nothing. Not a word of her trying to cheat the deal.
Why, though?
She frowns when she finds herself at a loss. Not once had she ever considered Hades conducive to their plans, or being a pivotal accomplice for the outcome of their futures.
And she'd certainly never fathomed becoming his confidant.
His parallels with T were striking. A fact she was worried to share.
So accidental, that despite everything, it left her staggering.
Unpredictable.
Brooding.
Childish.
As lost and alone as they had been, albeit by his own design.
But, they'd walked out with four crates packed to their capacity of medical supplies, which filled more than its share of space, a beautifully dangerous hammer made by the God of Smithing himself, and a scythe he'd had to pick up from the pile for them.
Which made the situation all the more bizarre.
She'd been testing it's weight when it was hoisted out of her hands-
She'd thought for sure he was going to say it was off limits-
But then he'd just swung it over his shoulder and handed it to Adelaide to wrap.
It was so at odds with his previous interactions with them.
She eyes the notebook thoughtfully.
Never thought she'd feel a kinship with the devil.
Have empathy for him.
She closes her eyes as the familiar ache settles over her.
She knew loneliness intimately.
Her only companion in T's absence.
How awful it was.
Empty, but with no way of knowing what to fill the void with.
The deafening silence.
The craving for human contact-
She chokes on an unbidden sob.
-any human contact.
Nope.
She shakes her head as she violently wipes at her tears.
Not today.
Not right now.
Not ever if she wanted to remain functional.
Useful.
Worthy of their affection.
Her knuckles turn white around the hilt of her knife as the other crushes the herbs clutched in it.
She needed to think about something else.
Now.
Her eyes sweep around the cave wildly before suddenly settling on the bottles of venom Adelaide had been willing to let her milk.
Perfect!
She walks over and picks up the bottle.
There was so much to do.
So much better things to do than thinking.
Self-reflection was best left for-
Hopefully no time soon.
Ever, if she could manage it.
Not with so much riding on the new deal.
They just had to get a third of the Isle supporting the Spider.
A Spider who would eventually step down and name Uma Queen once everything was sorted.
And she was a part of seeing to that.
That her and T-
She pauses.
She'd promised.
Had been the one to put it in his head.
She chuckles as she places the bottle down.
Her and T had more than their fair share of moral and social variances and spats but-
She hated disappointing him.
As harsh as she could be, she still loved him.
Valued him.
Appreciated and adored him despite their quarreling-
Something she'd secretly always enjoyed.
There was just something addictive about it.
The bantering that kept her wit's sharp and shrewd.
And it wasn't like it wouldn't be of use to the others-
Even if they were against it.
She leans against the cold stone entry to the work-cave as she watches Faustina move about the room with a look of gleeful determination on her face.
A month ago she would have said the only fear she had about Faustina was how far she was willing to push her experiments.
Now her biggest fear was Senior and whatever interest he had in her Beauty Girl.
Was it a new way to get to Deez?
Or did the god actually enjoy someone taking the time to write to him?
Her heart still skipped a beat every time she pictured Faustina rushing up the stairs, yelling at the top of her lungs to berate the god for entering their sanctuary.
Fear for Faustina and Deez kept her running up the stairs, but once they'd reached the god?
She'd frozen.
She hadn't known Faustina could yell.
Wasn't even aware of the strange relationship between her and Senior, beyond writing to keep him updated.
So to stand there, with the god she feared so much-
Hated because of how easily he was able to upend her entire life-
To stand there and watch him squirm?
Squirm under Faustina's intense scrutiny?
She never wanted to admit it, but she enjoyed it.
And that confused her, because she'd also been deathly afraid for her Beauty Girl.
She should have known better than to hope that would be the end of it.
Senior didn't even try to hide his interest in T, and now that he knew Faustina not only existed, but was able to come out?
Her uncle wasn't one to let go when he found something entertaining.
Wasn't one to let go of anything he deemed useful.
But Faustina, T, and Deez were her's, sea gods fucking dammit!
She bites her lip as she pushes off the rock wall.
Enough stewing.
She had questions.
"Faustina?"
She sighs when the girl ignores her.
Right.
The only way she knew to interrupt was to put something in front of her.
She looks around as she walks closer.
Faustina usually had a notebook or something-
A flash of light and a nasty smell catch her by surprise.
What the-
A thin greenish gray smoke quickly fills the room.
Hadn't she just worried about-
Coughs rip from her chest as her nose and eyes begin to run.
Oh fuck.
She grunts when something crashes into her.
The only thing she has time to register is the intense determination in green eyes before she finds herself in a grapple.
And then they hit the water.
It isn't until her legs shift to a fin-
Something that was becoming more and more natural by the day-
Like breathing.
Which ironically was something she was currently struggling to do.
Shit!
If she was wrestling with her lungs-
She grabs Faustina's forearm before she propels them to the surface only for both to fall into a coughing fit after breaking the waves.
Her brow furrows as Faustina pulls her to her chest.
Whatever that explosion was, it burned.
Her eyes.
Her nose.
Her throat.
Her lungs.
Even her skin.
"Wha-" her own coughs interrupt her.
"The. Fuck."
She blinks in surprise.
That wasn't Faustina.
She shakes her head before she lays back and forces herself to breath slowly.
Anything to relieve the burning cough.
"Uma?! Faustina!?"
She groans, but the action only makes her cough more.
"Are you two okay?" Yensid calls from the pool cave, where he seemed to be holding Harry back by the shoulder.
Were they?
She turns to find T's hard glare.
That was reassuring.
"It ain't like I know what happened." She manages to say.
"Stupid." T breathes out tightly, "stupid happened."
"What stupid?" She demands before her lungs demand to be cleared.
"Fuck I know?" T swallows as he loops his arm around her and starts swimming them back to the shore.
"She was, working, and then-" She glares at him before she starts using her fin to help.
How the fuck did T even have the ability to move so quickly after that?
Force himself to breathe enough to even attempt it.
And how dare he try to swim her back to shore, like he was the one with the fin.
It was infuriating!
"Why they be coughin'?" Harry demands as he glares at Yensid.
"I would imagine it would have something to do with the green explosion." Yensid responds dryly, "as Faustina was tinkering with a new weapon." He sighs, "which clearly needs to be stabilized."
New weapon?
"New weapon!" She smacks the surface of the water as another coughing fit shuts her rage down.
T's eyes light up as his lips twitch, but he doesn't say a word as they finally hit the lip of the pool.
Yensid and Harry quickly help them from the water.
"Let me get my bag." Yensid insists.
T nods as he takes another deep breath and shoves her at Harry.
"Oi, ya be needin' ta be sittin' too ya know." Harry snatches at air.
She glares as T waves him off as he turns and exits the cavern.
"That can'nah be bein' me Pirate Princess," Harry seethes as he settles her against the wall beside the opening.
She shakes her head, "Definately-" she wheezes, "T."
Harry grimaces before he snorts, "he ain'nah gonna be happy when he be ah realizin' what he be in."
She chokes on a snort when it turns into a cough.
Good.
Fucking ass hole.
"What be happenin-" he grimaces, "ya be knowin' what, why don'nah ya just be restin' like? We can be ah waitin' for the cough ta calm down."
She glares, wanting to argue but-
Fucking coughing wasn't going to do her any favors with her Pretty Boy.
"That be ah good Cap'in," Harry settles beside her and pulls her to rest her head on his shoulder.
"SONOVA-" T shouts before he's cut off by another fit of his own.
"Ah," Harry nuzzles against the top of her head, "there it be."
A wicked smile curves her lips, wishing she could see T's face when he'd found himself in Faustina's skirt.
Fucking dick, swimming her to shore like she was a one finned guppy.
Ass.
Harry's laughter rings in her ears, "it be like that then?"
Aye," she regrets when another fit rips the breath from her lungs, "it be like that."
"Here we are Captain," Yensid smiles as he kneels next to her before he holds out his hand, "vitals first."
She nods as she gives him her forearm, watching as he starts wrapping the strap around her arm through small breaths.
Anything to keep the coughs at bay. She wasn't sure she could take her throat being much more raw.
She jumps when papers suddenly appear in her face.
"Oi! The fuck ye be comin' from?"
T blinks as he juts his thumb over his shoulder, "the lab?"
Her eye twitches.
T had always been quiet, but she hadn't even heard a scuff.
When the hell had gotten so silent on them?
And why did it piss her off so much?
"An' the papers?" Harry snatches the pages from her to shake in T's direction, "what they be bein' for?"
"Tina." T shrugs as he slides down the wall beside them and taps her shoulder with a half chewed pencil. "Here."
She takes the papers away from Harry and glances over them.
Faint.
Bleed
Blisterl
Burn
Internal
External
Taste Blood
Cough Blood
See Spots
Dizziness
Headache
Her brow furrows before she looks up, "health checklist?"
T nods as he continues filling out his papers, "yeah, ya mind?"
Her eyes narrow.
Of course she didn't mind, but at the same time, she didn't want to do anything that might be interpreted as encouraging this kind of-
Faustina had been in there, alone, testing something dangerous.
What if she hadn't gone to talk to her?
She clenches her jaw.
"Fine. I will." She holds her hand out for the pencil as she struggles with another coughing fit, "but you tell her to get out here and talk."
He looks up with a frown, "you mad?"
"I am not happy."
T's frown deepens, "she ain't talkin' ta me right now., an I don't know how ta get her out."
She shakes her head and takes a slow breath, "I just- what if I hadn't been there? I don't like this, this lone testing thing."
She understood there were risks, just like she trusted Faustina to do her best to negate them as much as she could.
It just bothered her that Faustina seemed intent on-
She sighs as Yensid shifts away from her, silently taking the pages with him.
T studies her for a moment before he sighs. "Jus' give me a minute to finish this, and I'll fuck with one of her experiments."
"No. Don't, don't mess with those"
Just because she was upset didn't mean she wanted this whole thing repeated the moment T put the wrong base into the wrong acid or whatever it was that made things work.
"Fine, fuck with her stupid clothes then. That'll probably do it."
"I'm just worried." She finally admits, "Ya don't need to piss her off."
T shrugs, "why, she's-" A slow scowl spreads across his face before he falls silent.
"What that be now?" Harry glares at T.
"Don't worry 'bout it."
"Color me worried." Harry crosses his arms over his chest.
"Same." T responds with a huff.
"You seem to be questioning something." Yensid says gently.
T turns to Yensid with a frown silently for several long moments before he sighs and hands Yensid his stack, "she's never been like, affected by this shit before…"
Never been-
Her chest constricts painfully.
Faustina never had to deal with side effects because T-
"She just always took care of it after."
Because her protector took the hurt and the difficulties.
But now?
Now that they knew they shared a body?
Did that change anything?
He turns to the lab and juts his chin, "s'why I know that was an accident." He shakes his head, "I can't count the number of times I had to-" He pauses as he pulls up his knees to his chest and rubs his temple,, "well, that's a fuckin'headache."
Her heart constricts at his tone.
It was hard to remember that the two had only found out a few weeks before they had discovered it themselves.
She barely ever heard T sound lost.
"I would imagine it is." Yensid gently pats T on the head. "Perception precedes reality."
"What do that be ah meanin'?" Harry asks as he leans closer.
"It means your perception of something defines your reality, regardless of the truth." Yensid explains with a soft smile, "and that is not always a bad thing."
Huh.
She turns to T thoughtfully, so then-
Would Faustina really be safe from the blast? Because T took the brunt of it?
Would it still work the same way now that they knew?
She slips away from Harry to scoot next to T and settles at his side sliding her hand behind his back to lean against him.
As confusing as it was for her, she couldn't imagine what T was dealing with.
"It's fine," T breathes before he picks up his head and turns to her with a small smile. "I'm good."
Her eyes narrow at the obvious lie, but she knew better than to push.
She sighs.
She always knew it was better not to push T. They all knew better.
"If ya be doin' good, ya gonna be lettin' the ol' man take vitals now?"
T rolls his eyes, "when he finishes with Umes."
"I have finished taking Uma's vitals, though currently I am making use of this remarkable chart."
T rolls his eyes, "apparently I'm bad at reporting shit."
She snorts, "ya mean I ain't the only one telling you that?"
T looks her dead in the eye, "no."
"I be pretty sure everyone be tellin' 'im that."
T gestures to Harry. "You're special in alotta ways Umes, but that ain't one."
Little assh-
Her mouth closes when his words sink in.
She was special.
In a lot of ways.
She takes a slow, deep breath, heartened by the warmth flaring in her chest that had nothing to do with the explosion.
She curbs her curiosity though, not sure her ego could take what T considered 'special' about her.
"So, ya be makin' use o' the chart, what ya be makin' o' it then?"
"Well, I am certainly learning that I need to spend more time with Faustina in her lab." Yensid chuckles, "also, I believe I can ease the side effects."
T nods, "good."
She furrows her brow at his tone before her eyes sweep over his expression.
It was strange.
She wasn't sure she'd ever seen T so stern. Or serious for that matter. It was just so at odds with his two typical moods.
Dark and brooding or mischievously gleeful.
Her gaze shifts to Harry to find him studying T with his own frown.
Not just her then?
She sighs.
What did that say about them, his family?
Harry shakes his head before he walks to T's other side and, with a surprising amount of care on Harry's part, joins them.
She closes her eyes as her teeth sink into her lip waiting for T to push them both off-
But, the shove never comes.
Neither does the harsh 'off'.
"Uma ain'nah bein' dead, or even bein' hurt bad like," Harry whispers to T as he slips an arm around T's shoulder, "so be breathin'."
She offers T a small smile and nods when he turns to her with a wary gaze, "aye."
It takes another moment of studying her for T to turn and take a deep breath.
She hates herself when warmth uncurls in her chest.
Worried.
T was just worried about her-
In a way he'd never expressed before.
Why had she been staring at him like that?
Was it simply the after effects of the explosion-
Or had he done something to hurt her?
I don't think she was hurt T.
Looked hurt to me.
He frowns as he sorts their supplies, the only thing Uma would let him do to help.
Which sucked when all he wanted to do was spar with them.
All of them.
It had been too long-
In your opinion.
His eye twitches.
-since Uma had last practiced with her whip.
And now that Deez and Gil were both decked out with new weapons, it only made sense to start training with them.
But Uma hadn't even let the words get out of his mouth.
She'd just held up her hand, said no, and put him on bitch detail while Harry and Beam were told to pick up some volunteers for information gathering.
On the Isle.
Without him.
Seeking rumors.
Without. Him.
Taking stock of our supplies is hardly busy work-
Yeah, for you maybe. This shit is so stupid.
She sighs.
Think about it this way, at least you'll know first hand what needs collecting.
Great.
What's with the tone? I thought you liked-
Yeah, liked, past tense. Ain't sayin' scavenging isn't important- Just sayin' it ain't my main priority.
Beam had offered some of his best-
And added and struck some from the list when Beam'd come to him with it, something he'd appreciated.
He hadn't been sure Beam'd still be willing to treat him as an equal after introducing him to Uma.
Why? You know how the Isle works, you earned, painstakingly, his respect. Why ever would you-
Cause I lied to him-
T, dear brother, who don't you lie to?
He scowls as he makes another mark on the chart.
Less people than you do.
I certainly do not!
Oh, so you wanted me to tell Uma you were too scared to come out after you made everything go boom?
Don't even! We both know that you wouldn't have let me out even if I wasn't worried. You were too afraid I'd feel the backlash.
Didn't hear you bitchin' about it-
At the time anyway.
Not that he was surprised he was getting an earful now.
You never know what you want.
Oh, and you do?
We're talkin' 'bout you. You wanted to be a part of their lives for forever and for what? He demands, to what? Squeak and hide at every other interaction? Either tuck your tail or wag it Tina, ya can't do both.
The basket in front of him blurs as unpleasant heat blossoms in his chest.
Shit.
Don't you think I know that! I'm trying T! I am! I'm sorry this is my best, I am. I know it's embarrassing, and I am ashamed of myself, but I swear, I'm trying!
His stomach roils as she chokes on her words, at the anguish ringing in them.
Fuck.
Too far.
Look, I didn't-
He sighs.
I swear T, I'm grateful for this. For everything you've done for us- For me, I didn't meant to-
He closes his eyes as he takes a deep breath.
Fucking great, real fucking hero he was.
I didn't mean it like that.
Yes you did! I know you've been feeling it since they first found out about me. I can feel your disappointment and disgust! But T, I swear, I'll do better! Please don't regret-
He stumbles back with wide eyes as guilt hits his gut at her desperation.
This.
This is why he preferred her being a bitch.
He swallows as he slides his back down the wall and curls into a ball.
He sucked so bad at this-
Always had.
I really shouldn't have said that-
What, the truth?
His throat tightens.
It's not the truth Tina, I was just-
Frustrated.
He'd been frustrated and he'd taken it out on her.
Like a real fucking prick.
And now he was stuck in this-
Whirlpool?
-of guilt, shame, and anguish.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
Tina…
His heart breaks when her name makes her cry harder.
How the fuck was he supposed to fix this?
He hits his head against his knees.
What the fuck could he-
He sighs as he looks around the full cavern.
There had to be something to put her at ease.
To make it better.
There always was-
He bites his lip.
In the past it had been tokens of his adventures.
Stories.
Herbs.
But their family had provided her with more adventure than she could handle most days.
Provided her with extravagant gifts. Not once. Not a single fucking time, had he ever considered gathering her fucking jewlery.
Stories, pfft, Deez had those in spades.
She even had a team to gather her fucking herbs now.
Prep them.
Dizzy and Celia even liked making her ointment.
So how the fuck was he supposed to pull her out of this?
What else did she like?
He sighs as he lets the back of his head crack against the wall.
There had to be-
Oh!
He jumps to his feet before he takes off.
He hesitates, disheartened when Faustina doesn't object or scold him. He couldn't be sure she was even present or if he was just feeling her residual emotions.
He needed back on the ship.